Thank you for calling me out on that and setting me straight, but the truth is, you saw right through my socialist facade and saw me for what I really am...NOT A SOCIALIST.

The stone facade consists of mostly grays, browns, and beiges.

As for a gem like your Canadian estate, I wonder if a story could be told around the building's history and only key elements retained (a facad only, for example).

The facade of the home on the first floor is enclosed with a mudroom/porch that was built as an extension.

Any suggestions for a quick / cheap facade update to make it pop?  

On a big enough project, TIF can be part of the package sold to the lender to fund the remainder, but if you're talking coming with no funds, TIF is usually restricted to public or quasi-public goods - i.e. fixing streets, sidewalks, upgrading water lines, building facades, etc.

We need to take the facade from traditional (some may say colonial) to contemporary or at least more modern.

Used half of that cash to rebuild the front facade and the other half for a new investment.

On the exterior this presents itself visibly as cracks in the foundation(brick facade or cement underpinning, for example). 

The Dalles is certainly a town with some changing building facades.